


I Bet on Losing Dogs

by Anonymous



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Drug Use, Found Family, Gen, Not Beta Read, Teeth-Clenched Teamwork, Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Vigilante TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Vigilantism, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade are Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Sam took a deep breath. Held it. Released it after a few seconds had passed.His voice was scarily low when he started talking again, "This- I thought you were just sneaking out to meet with friends or something… you know that what you're doing is highly illegal? Do you know how much trouble you could be getting yourself into?"Tommy scoffed, "Yeah, what hero's going to try and stop me?"(Or: Vigilante Tommy au)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s), Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 54
Kudos: 466
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

  
Most vigilantes were born from noble means.

Though the act itself was illegal (for good reason, considering the type of trouble they always seemed to get themselves into,) there was a reason why they were there, and why they were mostly populated in the districts where hero patrols were either rare or not taken seriously. Vigilantes were there to help the people like normal heroes would, not caring if the law was on their side or not. Some vigilantes were born from someone wanting to become a hero, but not having the funds for a good school, or just not making it in entirely, whether it be because their power was too weak to work with or there wasn't enough space for them. You'd think that with so many kids trying to become heroes, there'd be enough for every district to have some powerful ones… but with the majority of the hero graduates wanting to become famous, they all seemed to stick to districts already chock-full of heroes, leaving the rest to try and fend for themselves.

He couldn't blame the graduates wanting to become a hero for the fame. He was like one of those kids, once upon a time, young and with his head in the clouds, but without a flashy superpower or lack thereof, it was nearly impossible, and he had accepted that when he got rejected from a dream school made to train young heroes. 

He accepted that and yet, when a villain attacked the school he did end up going to and injured a close friend of his, he moved before he could think, and chased the man out of anger. He managed to catch up to him, taking the man by surprise by tackling and restraining him.

Then, after what seemed like hours had passed, two heroes had turned the corner and were running right towards them. 

_Phantom_ and _The Blade._

Though Tommy didn’t know who they were at the time, he could recognize that they were heroes, and loosened his grip in a moment of relief. The villain he managed to restrain took that small second to his advantage, shoving Tommy off of him, and sprinting down the road.

The two heroes ran past him. When Tommy tried to get up and follow, one of the heroes (The Blade, he'd learn later,) lagged behind his partner for a second to stop him.

_"Stay out of our way."_

No concern for getting involved. No thanks for slowing him down. The hero left as quickly as he’d shown up, trailing after his partner.

It wasn’t that moment that caused Tommy to consider vigilantism, no matter how angry the interaction made him. It wasn’t even the moment after, when they looped back around empty-handed, looking less than bothered about it. It was when he could confirm that the villain ended up getting away almost a week after it happened. It was the fact that, while the two heroes that let him get away were praised and quickly jumped ranks as the months passed, becoming a trio that seemingly became famous overnight, Tommy was still stuck. 

His school was still damaged. Tommy’s best friend was still hurt and likely traumatized. The villain was still out there and, unless anyone tried tracking him down, he could stay hidden for the rest of his life if he wanted to. 

Nobody was even bothered to try.

When Tommy first tried to become a vigilante, he was sloppy and revenge-driven, only there to track down the man that attacked him and his best friend. He was tunnel-visioned and too focused on the situation at hand to think about the bigger picture.

As time went on, and after he did manage to find the man and get his closure, it still wasn’t enough. Even after he watched the news the next morning covering the situation, he was still angry. Why did it take so long? Why was it him that ended up doing it- barely 17 and so inexperienced that he could’ve gotten hurt or even arrested himself- when there were hundreds of heroes that could've done a better job? Even after he attacked a school and gravely injured the students attending, why did nobody take it seriously? How many more schools and people would he have had to hurt before they did?

 _‘If it were one of the fancy schools, they would’ve been shouting from the rooftops until he was finally caught,’_ Tommy thought bitterly, holding the anger that was bubbling in his chest at the thought. If it was a school in a rich district, they would’ve taken it seriously. No, they wouldn’t even have to. There would’ve been enough heroes patrolling around that the villain would’ve been caught immediately.

Then he started to think. If that was the case, how many villains were roaming his streets now? How many weren’t caught because the heroes weren’t bothered enough to do it? How many heroes were patrolling his area, if any? Was he safe? Was anyone safe?

Then, another thought crossed his mind. If he were to continue being a vigilante, train himself, and become strong enough to pick up where the rest of the heroes were lacking, would there be any heroes around to stop him? Or could he get away just as easily as the villain did?

Despite the severe lack of training at the beginning, Tommy was dead-set on continuing his line of work, confident that he’d be good enough to not get caught.

* * *

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

It was hard to keep his double life a secret from Sam. 

So hard that he didn't end up keeping it from him at all.

He was planning on doing it, balancing school and life at home with being a vigilante, confident that he'd be able to do it just because he wanted to… but being a vigilante caused him to stay up late, which made him crash either at school or right when he got home. In the beginning, for a moment, his grades slipped because he couldn't get a handle on schoolwork. Teachers were concerned. And because Sam was the only one living with him, he noticed right away that something was off about Tommy, and was concerned enough to ask him about it, just for Tommy to brush it off. Sam never pressed about a touchy subject until it was too much to handle. That was his rule, he said it loud and clear on the day Tommy wound up in his care that he would respect his boundaries… but it never got this bad. Tommy was usually a good student. He never walked around all day looking dead-tired, lacking the amount of energy that seemed to come out of nowhere. He was never snappy at Sam for no reason.

Tommy ended up spilling everything when the man caught him sneaking back in his room one late night, injured and too tired to try and come up with a convincing lie. That in and of itself caused them both to argue. They've had disagreements before, sure, but that was the first time in a long time where Tommy's ever heard Sam raise his voice, and it was the first time that it was ever in Tommy's direction instead of in his favor.

He could understand why, so he didn't end up taking that much offense from it.

Tommy explained his reasoning to a fuming Sam. Asked him when the last time he saw a hero patrols around here was, and how long it took for the villain that attacked his school to get caught, only because Tommy was determined enough to try-

( _"That was you!?"_ He yelled in disbelief.

 _"If I didn't step in, no one would've!"_ Before Sam could respond, Tommy cut him off, _"How many more schools, Sam? How many more people would he have to hurt before this was taken seriously? My friend almost died from this, and that could've been someone else's fate."_

Sam took a deep breath. Held it. Released it after a few seconds had passed.

His voice was scarily low when he started talking again, _"This- I thought you were just sneaking out to meet with friends or something… you know that what you're doing is highly illegal? Do you know how much trouble you could be getting yourself into?"_

Tommy scoffed, _"Yeah, what hero's going to try and stop me?"_ )

The argument lasted for a while. They stopped on the first day when it was creeping towards the early hours of the morning, and Tommy was still injured and still looking dead tired. By the next day, it continued and lasted a lot longer.

In the end, Sam never agreed with him. They soon stopped talking about it, knowing that each time would only end in an argument, with both sides staying true to their beliefs- Sam thought that Tommy was too young and inexperienced to carry the weight of this on his shoulder, and Tommy knew that nobody else was doing it. But Sam didn't stop him, either. Even when Tommy turned 19, ready to move out of Sam's house and take this vigilante job more seriously, Sam didn't try to stop him.

"I know." Tommy ended up saying. When Sam's eyes narrowed, he insisted, "I won't!"

"It's not going to be easy."

"It's never been easy."

Sam's face softened just a little, and the hand that was gripping Tommy's shoulder tightly had loosened just a little. But before Tommy could pull away, Sam pulled him into a hug.

* * *

The Blade. Phantom. Philza. Three heroes in a trio that was the bane of Tommy's existence. 

As a vigilante, you needed to stay hidden and get the job done as efficiently as possible without getting caught. In some cases, such as Tommy's, they didn't want any sort of fame. Wouldn't do anything flashy, would try his best to avoid any cameras that could be recording him, wouldn't leave anyone with a name to call them if they asked… for the first few years, when the hero agencies in the areas were slacking off or just didn't have enough heroes in the first place to keep track of everything, staying out of sight was easy. Sure, he was talked about in the media from time to time, but unless you saw him with your own two eyes, people didn't have enough evidence to show that when existed. Life was easy. 

Then, the trio set up their own agency only a few minutes away from where he lived. They came with the promise of keeping the districts with low amounts of heroes safe.

Tommy knew better.

He knew that it wasn't a coincidence that 3 vigilantes that patrolled the nearby areas (people he's heard of, but never got the chance to personally interact with) got caught in the same week that the trio started to patrol. With that agency came apprentices working with Philza and Phantom, and with apprentices came more heroes cracking down on the vigilante problem in the districts they thrived most in. If Tommy weren't directly affected by it, he might've felt better knowing that more heroes were patrolling the neighboring districts. 

But, being one of the main targets, he found himself getting paranoid and looking around more often than he used to. He tried looking on the bright side and supposed that being more alert would help him spot criminals on the streets.

Then he got attacked.

The first time it happened, it was by an obvious hero wannabe, wearing a costume that almost completely matched The Blade's color scheme. They asked for Tommy's license and tried restraining him when he ignored them. (Completely unprofessional, clearly an apprentice.) In return, Tommy managed to get away from them easily. Days after that incident, Tommy decided to stay home, and noticed that there were a lot more people wandering around during his usual patrol time. 

From then, they became less of a worry and more of a nuisance. There was one time he almost got caught by one of them, Phantom, but after that incident, it was mostly just apprentices that'd spot him and make his patrol a lot more complicated than it had to be. The trio may not have been directly making his life worse by trying to catch him themselves, but their influence and agency did.

When Tommy finally moved away, it was mostly because he was starting to get recognized from the heroes, and he was initially glad to find that the apprentices stayed near the area he used to live in. For the longest time, as Tommy tried familiarizing himself with a new area, he was glad to find that the patrols were a lot quieter. In this new area, he wouldn't have to worry about getting recognized immediately and hunted down.

The original plan was to only have one roommate. Tubbo, his best friend of many years, someone that not only knew about his job and supported it, but also helped him so immensely along the way that Tommy wondered sometimes if he would've made it as far as he did without him by his side. He had a job working with heroes and making gear for them, so he had the skills and access to materials that'd make up Tommy's whole support, including parts of his costume and any support items he used on the job.

He was happy when it was just the two of them. When they could talk about his job, or when Tommy could climb in through the living room window and not have to worry about his roommate coming in and thinking there was an intruder.

Then they got another roommate. An apprentice he didn't recognize named Ranboo.

Tommy will admit, he didn't like him very much. At all.

"O- Oh!" Ranboo stood up straight, "Hello, it's nice to meet you-"

"We've met." Briefly, when Tubbo was first introducing him.

It'd be fine if the hero just visited. Tubbo was allowed to make friends, he knew that he was careful and smart enough to keep everything vigilante-related a secret. But with an apprentice living here, unknowingly under the same roof as a vigilante, it just made everything so much more dangerous and complicated. He felt like he was back home, constantly wary to keep himself from getting caught.

( _"He's just staying here for a couple of months."_ Tubbo said, casually, _"Then he'll be out of here, and we won't have to worry about anything."_

_"What if he finds out?"_

He rolled his eyes, _"He won't find out, Tommy. You kept this a secret from Sam when you were starting out-"_

_"He eventually found out, Tubbo, 3 months in. And Ranboo- he's staying for, what, 9 months?"_

_"He found out because you were new to it! Look, Tommy, I know you're not keen on having another roommate, and you know that I won't be saying anything anytime soon... but he's my friend and he needs a place around the area to stay."_

_"Just stick him in a motel or something."_ He mumbled.

 _"Also, with his apprenticeship, he'll be out most of the day and asleep all night. You'll barely have to see him at all."_ )

Ranboo coughed, "Ah, I know, I just wanted to… you know."

Tommy, deciding that he didn't have to be the asshole here and could be kind if he wanted to, held his arms out expectantly, and stood there until Ranboo got the message and dropped the box into his hand, quietly muttering to put the box somewhere inside the (mostly) empty room.

"I didn't think I'd run into you anytime soon." Tommy admitted as they passed by each other, "Thought you had some apprenticeship or something to keep you busy."

"Yeah, they gave me the weekend to move out here."

Tommy found himself leaning a little closer, "What kind of agency are you working with, anyway? The ones around here aren't usually worth this much dedication."

"I-I'm working with The Blade."

Tommy almost dropped the box he was carrying, having to catch himself and make an effort to put it down slowly.

"The- in the trio? With Philza and Phantom?"

"Yeah…"

"I thought The Blade was… you know…" Cold. A major loner. The list goes on, but the reputation he gained from outright refusing to take on any apprentices was well-known, and he could tell Ranboo understood what he was trying to say.

"I did too... But he gave me the opportunity, so I took it. The commute was too long where I used to live, so now I'm staying here."

"How long would it take?"

"It'd take hours at my old place. But now it's only… 40 minutes, give or take."

"Nothing available that's closer?"

"I'm sure there is, but I'm not familiar with the town. Plus, Tubbo offered…"

"Of course he did." He mumbled, mostly to himself, before continuing, "So, uh, are you getting paid or..?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm going to be helping out around here as much as I can too, as thanks. I know you're probably not… keen on having me here."

"What? Who's saying that?"

"...Tubbo warned me." He admitted.

Huh.

"Well. I mean, I don't hate you or anything."

"Mhm."

"But it's a little last-minute, y'know?"

"Yeah."

Sensing that there wasn't any way to salvage the conversation, Tommy put the box down near Ranboo's bedroom door and excused himself.

* * *

The first patrol after Ranboo moved in (almost a week later, after Tubbo recommended giving everyone some time to settle down and get used to each other) was exhausting.

He got tangled with a shady group that was ganging up on one kid. And, though Tommy couldn't hear anything they were saying, he knew that he had to step in before it could escalate or get out of control. Almost 20 minutes later, he stopped someone else from getting mugged, and quietly offered to walk them home if they wanted someone to. (Thankfully, they declined, and let Tommy run off without any further questions.)

Assuming that he’d already gotten his adrenaline rush for the night, Tommy decided to take a break.

Sitting behind a dumpster in the alley right next to a bakery he's been meaning to visit, Tommy sat down and ate a granola bar he stashed away in one of his pockets. It was just a small snack, something to hold him off, but he ate it slowly, knowing that the minute he was done, he'd have to get up and start patrolling again, and he really wanted to savor this break.

Footsteps sounded at the entrance of the alleyway. Tommy froze, quickly switching from a sitting position to a crouching one, ready to leave if he got noticed, or the situation became too awkward for him to stick around through it.

“And you’re sure of it?” He heard someone mutter.

“He’s got crates of them coming in next week, and I know where he’s going to be passing them out.” Another responded in a similar tone.

“Fucking _finally_. Dream’s getting so hard to track down these days.”

Tommy’s heart skipped a beat. He found himself leaning towards the pair, getting as close as possible to hear what they were saying better.

“It’s because he’s getting some attention in the media. You know what kind of business he’s running, it requires him to stay hidden.”

“From everyone?”

A quiet smack, “Yes, everyone.”

“Is he handing them out somewhere in town then? There are heroes crawling around every corner.”

The man’s voice quieted, but Tommy leaned closer to be able to hear them, back pressed against the dumpster.

“There’s an abandoned warehouse not that far from here, in a part of the city that has a blind spot. No heroes patrolling. He said he’d drop everything off there.”

One week. Abandoned warehouse.

 _Dream_.

This… this could be big.

They left as quickly as they had entered the alley. Tommy waited a few more minutes until he left, running as fast as he could back home.

Climbing in through his bedroom window was awful and awkward, stepping over his dresser and narrowly avoiding stepping on his (very clean) bedsheets. He was cursing under his breath, knowing that if Ranboo hadn't moved in, he wouldn't have to come in through his own bedroom window.

Then the door to his room opened, and he found himself making direct eye contact with his least favorite roommate.


	2. Chapter 2

Before Ranboo could even think to leave, Tommy ran after him, power activating as he slapped a hand over his mouth and shoved him against the wall. Tubbo was out, so there was nobody that'd question the loud thump coming from his room, but he knew that if he couldn't keep his mouth covered, Ranboo could still scream for the neighbors and put them in a very tricky situation. 

Well. A situation that was trickier than this.

Tommy ripped his mask off.

"Do you recognize the outfit?" Ranboo, still wide-eyed, took a second to shake his head, "Do you know what I am?"

He nodded.

Tommy put on the best glare he could manage and kept his voice low as he spoke.

"I'm normally a nice guy, Ranboo, I don't like hurting anyone innocent when I'm doing my job, but something like this could put my life and the lives of so many others in danger. You realize that, right?"

He nodded.

"So you understand that if you tell anyone, and I mean anyone- your family, your friends, or that stupid fucking trio you're working with- I'll kill you. I'll kill you and bury your body somewhere nobody will ever find you, do you hear me?" He nodded. Tommy relaxed slightly, "If I let go of your mouth, will you start screaming?"

He shook his head, _no_. Slowly, Tommy backed away from Ranboo, wiping his hands on the sides of his dirty pants. Then, those same hands awkwardly slid into his pockets, as if he were trapped in a bad conversation and not trying to clear the air after threatening his roommate.

Ranboo broke the silence to clear his throat. "Um. Does… anyone else know?"

"..."

"I'm just curious, I don't want to turn anyone in or anything… I mean I can't, either, I know Tubbo could get in some serious trouble for this if he does know…" His eyes widened again, and he started waving his hands around, "Not that I would do it, even if Tubbo wasn't in danger! I just- you know. You have a guarantee. I personally don't- I don't see what's so bad about. Um. You know. Well, I could think of a few things, but-"

Tommy cut him off, "Tubbo and my uncle are the only other people who know. And it’s going to stay that way."

All people that helped in the hero industry one way or another. Just his luck, huh?

"Oh, no, of course... I'm not telling anyone."

"Good. Practice keeping that shit to yourself." He narrowed his eyes, "Why were you even in my room?"

"I thought someone was trying to break in."

"I can take care of myself just fine, Ranboo."

"Just a few minutes ago, I was convinced that you were a normal civilian." He flexed his hands, "A normal, powerless civilian."

"My main entrance used to be the window in the living room since it was easy to get in and out, but since you arrived…" He sighed, "God damn it, _Tubbo_."

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

Sensing that Tommy wasn't in a talkative mood, Ranboo nodded, and quietly shut the door behind him as he left.

* * *

It was early.

So early that he caught Tommy climbing in through the living room window as he was walking out the door. The vigilante didn't even glance in his direction, walking past him and into his room to sleep for the day. Ranboo wanted to get in a few extra hours of sleep himself, but he’d woken up early that day, restless and deciding that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to meet up with his mentor early.

The trip was silent. 40 minutes, half of it walking through the streets, nodding at any hero that passed by him (which was only a few, he noticed, probably because some heroes were ending their patrols and switching out with someone else.)

As he was approaching the agency, somewhere he hoped he could hide out until he had to go train, he was stopped by a familiar man calling out to him.

“Hey, Ranboo!”

"...Phantom?"

The man in question cracked a confused smile, "Oh, come on now, you can call me Wilbur. It's not like I walk around calling you by your hero name, right?"

"Wilbur." He corrected himself, "Good morning."

“What are you doing here? I thought Techno met up with you later in the day.”

“Yeah, I just thought I’d get here… earlier. You know?” Before he could try to stop it, he yawned, “But… uh.., in hindsight, a few extra hours wouldn’t have hurt…”

"Not used to getting up this early, ay?"

"Not really."

"Let’s have a chat, it’ll help you wake up a bit.” Wilbur started walking away, and Ranboo immediately turned to trail behind him, “Techno’s not awake yet. He's not much of an early riser, either."

"And you are?"

"Oh, no, I'm usually asleep during the day. I swear I won't bother you for too long."

The two went on a walk. Wilbur offered to get him some coffee, something to keep him awake, but Ranboo sheepishly admitted to not liking caffeine, and Wilbur said that it was probably best that they didn’t, muttering something about how'd he be tempted to get himself a cup as well.

"So." He said after the two of them had been walking in a comfortable silence, "What's your power?"

"...teleportation."

"Ooh, that's a rare one."

"It's nothing like being able to go through walls."

“But it’s still impressive. Did you teleport here from home?"

"Oh, no. I can't travel that far without getting sick."

Or lost. He found out the hard way that overusing his ability would leave him feeling disoriented and weird, and that it led to awkward situations if he ever traveled alone.

"Oh."

“Um.” Ranboo cleared his throat, "...is there a reason why you wanted to talk to me?"

"I was just curious about you… Techno doesn't usually take on apprentices."

"If you find out why he picked me, please let me know." He laughed nervously.

"You don't know why?"

"No clue. Sorry."

"Ah, it's fine." He frowned, "Techno's a strange man, I'm sure his reasonings are even stranger. Nothing you should worry too much about."

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“That being said, if you have any burning questions you need answering, you can come talk to me about it. I know Techno’s not really the talkative type, and he’s not used to having any apprentices working under him on top of that...”

Ranboo thought about it for a minute.

“Any questions?”

“What’s on your mind?”

"Is there a reason why you guys like… capturing vigilantes?" Wilbur blinked. Ranboo started to backtrack, “I mean, if that’s not what you meant, it’s fine-”

"Well, we don't _like_ it...”

“No, that’s not- of course not.”

Wilbur hummed thoughtfully.

"We have our reasons. Vigilantes are illegal for a reason.." When Ranboo continued to stare at him expectantly, he lowered his voice significantly, "I mean, just look at Dream. He used to be one, and you know how quickly that turned around."

"Who's Dream?"

Wilbur opened his mouth to respond, and closed it just as fast, taking a moment to look around.

"...I shouldn't even be talking about this."

"That's fine, don’t worry-"

"He was a vigilante." He continued, as if he hadn't made a big deal about it earlier, "Patrolled around here a few years ago, and became pretty famous because of it. I'm surprised you haven't heard of him."

"I’m not usually in the loop when it comes to these kinds of things."

“And yet, you’re asking about it.”

“...I’m asking you about it because I’m not in the loop.”

Wilbur seemed to take it as a reasonable answer, and shrugged as Ranboo quietly sighed in relief, "Well, he was a vigilante, you already know that much, but the weird thing about him was that he worked so well with the heroes that none of them made an effort to catch him. He was a great help at best, and a bit of a wildcard at worst. But then he went a little crazy, started attacking patrolling heroes and distributing a very illegal substance to boost him and his friend's powers, and now he's one of the most wanted criminals in the whole country."

"Was all of that an isolated incident?”

“It’s a complicated and ongoing problem that we are trying to get under control.” He answered vaguely.

“So you’re focusing on other vigilantes instead-?”

Wilbur’s glare was enough to make Ranboo cut himself off.

“Dream was just a warning. As long as vigilantism thrives, there will be ones that are exactly like him, so it’d be better to put a stop to it before anything started, right?”

Ranboo held his head down.

He remembered when Tubbo first started talking about Tommy, how he said that his roommate got little to no sleep some nights and rarely poked his head out during the day, and how Ranboo wondered if it was because he wanted to stay up late, or if he had to because of a job. Even with some hints that could've made him at least a little suspicious of him, Ranboo never would've guessed that Tommy was a vigilante. 

Now that he knew for sure, he was having trouble deciding what to do about it.

On one hand, Tommy threatened him when he found out, saying that him telling anyone could put his life and ‘the lives of so many others in danger. Ranboo wasn’t sure what he meant when he said that, but from the tone of his voice, he could tell that he was being serious. On the other, one of the main aspects of his future job would be to catch any vigilantes he came across. When he started, his worst fear was that he’d miss vigilantes because he’d feel too awkward asking someone to show their license, unknowing how much worse it was knowing where a vigilante was but not being able to report it.

It felt like lying.

“I’m not saying that vigilantes aren’t good people.” Wilbur continued, “A lot of them have the best intentions in mind. Hell, they were fine when the chances of a person having superpowers were rare, and we didn't have any places to train heroes… but nowadays, it's just too risky for people like them to be left unchecked, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I get it now.” He found himself saying, hating the way his mouth tasted weird afterward.

Wilbur’s hand clapped his shoulder, making him flinch, “Good. Techno won’t tell you anything about this, so I wouldn’t try bringing it up with him.”

“Noted.”

The conversation didn’t last much longer after that. They made it to the agency with Techno waiting for them near the entrance of the building, and Wilbur loudly announced that he should head off.

Ranboo watched him leave.

* * *

"At least you won't have to sneak around anymore, huh?"

"I feel like you aren't taking this seriously."

“I am, it’s just Ranboo-”

The conversation stopped as soon as the front door opened. Ranboo walked in, noticed that Tubbo and Tommy had taken up the couch and were currently staring at him, and froze.

“Did I… interrupt something?”

“No.” Tommy said at the same time Tubbo went, “Yes.”

Tommy shot Tubbo a glare, “I’m not letting him in on this.”

“I wasn’t even _suggesting that_ -”

They continued to talk like that, arguing under their breaths, so quiet that Ranboo almost couldn’t make out what they were saying to each other.

“I’ll, uh…” Ranboo coughed, “I’ll be in my room if you guys…”

Neither of them was listening. Quietly, Ranboo shuffled into his room and collapsed onto his bed with a long sigh.

He could’ve napped there if he wanted to. It’s been a stressful few days both mentally and physically, and he deserved a break from it.

His eyes wouldn't stay closed.

He could still faintly hear the sounds of Tommy and Tubbo's conversation, despite his attempt to stay out of it. Either they'd already forgotten that he was there, or they decided that they could care less.

He got up.

Ranboo shouldn’t be eavesdropping. It was bad enough, knowing that he was living under the same roof as a vigilante because he snooped around his bedroom. He could live in blissful ignorance if he just left them alone. But, as he stood in front of his door, ready to close it… he froze. From where he was standing, the voices were loud enough for him to hear.

“There were these guys, right? Talking about some blind spots in the city that Dream was planning on hiding out in.” Ranboo’s eyes widened at the name, “Said he’d be handing out something… I think it might be Trigger.”

“This seems too easy.”

“The talk couldn’t have been staged, I was in that alley first-”

“No, I mean… What, is he just going to be passing them out like candy or something? Does it cost anything? Do you have to be personally invited..?”

“Come on, _invite-only?_ This isn't some private event. He’s selling weird shit in an abandoned warehouse, what sort of invitations would he be handing out?”

“It just looks suspicious!"

"I'll be careful."

"You swear?"

"I swear." 

The door finally shut with a click. 

Ranboo stood there for a second, staring at his doorknob, registering what he just listened to.

Then he pulled out his phone.

* * *

“Hey there! Lovely night, isn’t it?”

Another salesman, walking around with a wide grin on his face and a briefcase in one of his hands. On the outside, he looked completely normal.

“It is.” He responded stiffly.

“Would you be interested in trying out a product of mine…”

The briefcase opened to reveal a series of tubes. Free, the man promised. An injection to help boost weaker quirks for the benefit of the user.

_Trigger._

Tommy feigned interest and got himself a tube (a lot easier than he expected to.) The salesman left as quickly as he’d come, and Tommy waited a while before he started to follow him.

For vigilante work, Tommy wore a mask that covered his whole head, leaving nothing but his eyes and a bit of his hair showing. It was practical. It kept the majority of his features hidden, and kept him from being recognized on the street. (Blond hair and blue eyes weren’t uncommon where he lived, but he knew that wearing anything else would increase the chances of him being recognized.)

Whenever he left the house, he tried dressing in a way that hid his features- hat, scarf, a mask covering the lower half of his face- _just in case_. With the cold weather coming in, it was good enough for him to blend in.

And good enough for him to get approached by a shady salesman, thinking he was just another passing stranger.

Tommy thought he’d have to try harder to get his hands on Trigger. So, unless this was some knock-off with some horrendous side effects, this meant that these were being passed out to more people around the city…

Maybe they just had enough to pass around.

That would mean that they just got more in supply.

Which meant that _Dream_ could be in town.

He watched the businessman from a distance. How he offered the same thing to a few people (all of them being alone, he noticed) and how some were less eager to take a strange injection from a shady man.

At one point, the businessman must've noticed him, because he started picking up the pace and taking more turns. He didn't want to lose him, but he also didn't want to look suspicious, so he found himself trying to power walk down the street.

On a right turn, someone bumped into him.

“Watch it.”

“Hey, chill out...”

When Tommy looked, the salesman was gone.

“Fuck…”

That was fine. He’d just have to look around a little.

“Are you lost or..?” The stranger’s voice trailed off. 

When Tommy looked over at him (someone that seemed familiar, but not enough for him to recognize him right off the bat), he saw that the stranger wasn’t looking at his face, but at his hands. Specifically, the hand that was still tightly holding onto Trigger.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
